Stellar Lumens Approved for Trading in on itBit

Financial regulators in New York have finally approved Stellar Lumens (XLM) to trade on the itBit cryptocurrency exchange. This marks the first time that New York authorities have allowed Lumens to trade.

ItBit was previously a bitcoin-exclusive cryptocurrency exchange platform for institutional investors. Along with the XLM approval from the New York Department of Financial Services, also came the approval of cryptocurrencies Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC).

On CoinMarketCap, XLM ranks at number 7—making it the seventh most valuable coin with a total market cap of over $4.3 billion. Its approval to trade means that the regulators do not view the cryptocurrency as a security—a designation that would demand registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and see Stellar through a completely different process.

This move may encourage other exchanges to list XLM as well and, in turn, help increase its value. The listing with itBit sent XLM price to rise more than 5%!